How to photograph your pet

When I was a child I wanted to be a veterinarian or zoologist very badly. My love for animals was so great my family ended up taking in pets on account of me. My parents are not exactly animal lovers, so I did not inherit this trait from them. They tend to view animals as animals and not as creatures that can be cuddled with or trained or loved in close proximity.

I continue to love animals and am very passionate about photography. However, taking photos of animals is not always a walk through the park. Often there is constant movement to deal with. Or if I am taking a photo of my sister's dogs they like to lick my face in the process or they will move closer in order to inspect the camera... "Sit still" doesn't always register. So, here are the strategies I use for pet photography:

1.) Take more than one photo. Like maybe 100 at one time in order to get 3 adequate photos.
And (I can not stress this enough):
2.) Get close. How close? Very close. So close you can smell your dogs malodorous breath or you can hear the vibrant purr of your cat. (Interesting enough, these two strategies also apply to taking photos of people.)

Here are a few examples:






Of course, there are other methods for taking amazing pet photos that do not involve close-up photography... but that will have to be another discussion for another time.